Chasing The Dark
by My Quiet Riot
Summary: Special Agent Natara Williams of the FBI and Detective Mal Fallon are assigned to yet another case together. This time, they're going after a mysterious murderer who has brutally and mercilessly taken the lives of two young siblings. The murderer is still loose, however, and is therefore still a looming danger to the surrounding public.
1. Chapter 1

Natara Williams woke up to the rising sun shining through the sheer blue curtains of her small townhouse. She rolled over to face her alarm clock. It read 6:37 in glowing green numbers. She sighed and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Just another day on the Special Agent job- or so she thought. She prepared for the day as she normally did, and was just about to pour milk into her bowl of Cheerios when her phone rang. Startled, she jumped, spilling milk on the counter. "Oh, come on!" she muttered to herself before answering.

"Hello, this is Natara Williams speaking. How may I help you?" There was a brief rustling of papers on the other end, before a voice said, "Hey, Natara, this is Mal. Sorry to call this early, but we need you for a case that came in this morning. It's urgent." Mal Fallon was a Detective, and Natara's partner. They had met years ago with the Maskmaker case, and since then solved many cases together. She had a hunch that he secretly harbored feelings for her beyond just working together, but maybe she was just being a little narcissistic. Or wishfully hopeful.

"Okay," she replied while cleaning up the milk she had spilled, "I'll be there as soon as I can. Give me fifteen." After they hung up, Natara abandoned the cereal and grabbed a granola bar instead, unwrapping it as she hurried to her car. She drove quickly yet safely, and arrived at the office thirteen minutes later. "Hey, Mal," she greeted as she walked in, "What's the urgent case you were talking about?"

"Oh, hey! Thank God you're here," Mal said as Natara sat down at a chair across from him. "We got this case in early this morning, but I just received it an hour or so ago from Captain Yeong. Apparently late last night, some strange man broke into this couple's house and killed two of their three children. They were bound and their throats were slit. The third child somehow escaped with her parents. Unfortunately, the murderer escaped, too. Mr. Wilson, the father of the kids, was the one who called the police initially."

"Oh my God," she stammered in shock, "That's terrible. Do you have any information on the kids?"

"The two who were murdered were a 9-year-old boy named Aaron and a 16-year-old girl named Brynne. The one who survived, Taylor, was the middle child. She's 13. Both parents and Taylor somehow escaped through a back window and ran a couple streets over to one of Taylor's friend's houses, which is where Mr. Wilson phoned the officers."

"Why did they run without checking on their other two kids? Did they know they were dead already, or...?"

"I thought about that, too. It's been puzzling me since I received this case. But I'm truthfully not sure. We're going to be talking to the family later today, so we'll get some more information then. Captain Yeong thought it would be better for you to talk one-on-one with Taylor, without me there, while I talk to the parents. Captain Yeong thinks Taylor will open up more with you than me."

Natara nodded, taking all this foreign information in the way she had been trained. "Okay," she replied, "That's fine. When are we heading over, then?"

"We should probably leave soon," Mal responded, "We were asked to inspect the crime scene as well."

"Let's go," Natara replied grimly. "The sooner we do this, the sooner we can figure out who this guy is."


	2. Chapter 2

Half an hour later, Natara and Mal found themselves on the Wilson's doorstep. Police cars were parked in their driveway and the surrounding street. An officer was across the street, talking to a neighbor. The house was unusually small for a family of five, with weathered white siding and a brown shingled roof. The yard was decorated with various flowers and a large oak tree sporting a tire swing from one of its strong branches. The front door hung open, and they could see police officers walking around inside. The entire house and yard were roped off with the all-too-familiar yellow crime-scene tape.

Mr. Wilson, seeing the detectives approach, greeted them at the door. "Hello," he said tightly, "Are you two the detectives?"

"Yes, we are," Mal replied, "I am Detective Mal Fallon, and this is my partner, Special Agent Natara Williams of the FBI. I take it you are Mr. Wilson?"

"Yes, I'm... Aaron, Brynne, and Taylor's father," Mr. Wilson replied, his voice choked. "Please, do come in. Whatever you need to do to bring justice for my children's lives. My wife and daughter are inside."

Natara and Mal followed Mr. Wilson inside and down a narrow hallway to the living room. Who they presumed was Mrs. Wilson sat on a small, tattered couch opposite of two police officers. Mrs. Wilson sat with a box of Kleenex, and tearfully answered the police's inquiries.

The two police stood when Mr. Wilson walked in, accompanied by Natara and Mal. "Detective Fallon. Special Agent Natara. Good to see you; we were told to be expecting you. We'll be done in just a moment."

"Oh, no, take your time!" Natara said, "We have all day."

"It's perfectly fine," the other officer replied, "We were just finishing up."

A few minutes later, Mrs. Wilson and the police stood and started towards the door. Once the police had left, Natara and Mal sat down with Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and introduced themselves again.

"Thank you so much for coming," Mr. Wilson said shakily. He took a deep breath before continuing. "As you would expect, we're horrified to say the least. Taylor, our... surviving child... is in her room, if you need to talk to her."

"Your reaction is fully expected. In fact, we'd be concerned if you were anything less than mortified," Natara said, looking first at Mr. Wilson, shifting her gaze to Mrs. Wilson and back again. "I would like to speak with Taylor for a few minutes, though."

"Take the stairs up and down the hall. Her room is the second door to the right." Mrs. Wilson advised.

"Thank you, Mrs. Wilson," Natara said before climbing the dimly-lit staircase to the upper level of the house. The walls, much like the rest of the house, were painted beige, and remained fairly empty except for a framed picture of the five of them. Natara stepped closer and examined the picture briefly. It was professionally taken, and looked like it might have been a Christmas card at some point. The children looked a bit younger, and they were all smiling, completely unaware that something like this would happen only a few years later. Natara sighed sadly before turning to Taylor's room.

Her bedroom door was open, and Taylor sat on her bed with a large stuffed dog hugged to her chest. Her thin arms were wrapped around her knees. She stared at a picture of her, Brynne, and Aaron propped up in the dusty window pane next to her bed. Taylor looked up when she heard footsteps. "Hi," she said amiably, turning to face Natara.

"Hi," Natara replied, leaning against the doorframe, "Are you Taylor?"

The girl brushed a strand of her wavy blonde hair out of her swollen, mascara-run eyes. "Yeah, I'm Taylor. Who are you?"

"I'm Natara Williams; I work for the FBI. I'd just like to talk to you for a few minutes."

"Sure, nice to meet you," Taylor said. She shifted to a cross-legged position, still hugging the stuffed dog to her chest. "You can sit down if you want. There's a chair by my desk over there." she pointed to a small desk shoved in the corner of the small room. "You're really pretty," she observed once Natara had sat down, "You look a little like my sister. She has... _had_... the same color hair as you..." Her gaze drifted back down to her stuffed dog. She set it on the light pink sheets beside her.

Despite the current circumstances, Taylor was quite friendly. "Thank you," Natara said, half-smiling. She crossed her right leg over her left before continuing. "Do you mind if I ask you a bit about last night?" she asked cautiously.

"Sure," Taylor said glancing up quickly, "Anything to help find out who the creep is who..." She looked down and picked up her stuffed dog again, subconsciously playing with one of its floppy ears. "... Killed... Aaron and Brynne," she finished.

Natara nodded and pulled out a pen and notepad before continuing. "Alright. Did anything seem out of place or unusual before you went to bed last night?"

Taylor thought for a moment. "No, not that I remember. I was just in my room like normal, listening to music." She motioned to the radio on her dresser. "I might not have heard if something weird was going on, anyways. The music was pretty loud, and the door was closed, too."

"Okay," she replied, methodically taking notes. "When was the last time you... saw your siblings that night?"

"We were all watching a movie downstairs, but Aaron got tired and went to bed early. I hugged him goodnight, and... Well, that was it, I guess. But Brynne..." Taylor's eyes filled with tears, and she blinked hard to hold them back. She scooted to the edge of her bed. "I... I said some horrible things to her that night. I lost my journal, and I was positive... that Brynne took it. She told me she hadn't... and I should have believed her. She never lies... I mean... She never lied. I didn't believe her, though... and I guess I was just extra moody or something, because I... I lashed out and called her names... and said a lot of things I regret now. I found the journal this morning under my bed. It must have fallen at some point. I went to her room this morning to apologize and..." She bit her lip. "Her... she wasn't..." Hot, angry tears now spilled out of her puffy, green eyes. "I am so STUPID!" Taylor screamed, throwing the stuffed dog across the room. "The last things I said to her were horrible and dumb and they just slipped out and I didn't mean them. I didn't get to tell her that I'm sorry, or that I didn't mean what I said. I never even got to say I loved her. IT'S MY FAULT that the creep came and killed them. It was my punishment for being a crappy sister! I can't believe I let this happen..." Taylor crumpled to the floor in sobs, one hand still gripping the sheets, and the other over her face. "I should have been k-killed, n-not them. I h-hate myself for this. I... I..."

Natara swore she could feel her heart break for this girl. She thought this was her fault! She thought that some sociopath breaking in and killing her siblings was her fault! Normally, Natara kept a decent distance from crying family members, as she really didn't like to deal with the personal side of things. Something about the emotions triggered something in her that she didn't like. But she couldn't stop herself this time. She walked over to the girl and knelt down beside her, rubbing circles on her back comfortingly. "Taylor," she said gently, "You need to listen to me." Taylor glanced up, but didn't stop crying. "_None_ of this is your fault, sweetie. Not one part of it. There's nothing you could have done to know this would happen or stop it. I need you to stop blaming yourself for something that was completely out of your control. Out of anyone's control. I promise you that your sister knows you didn't mean what you said. She knows you love her, and she loves you, too. So does Aaron. They know it's not your fault. Do you understand that?" Taylor nodded, then collapsed against Natara in hard, heart-wrenching sobs.

"I j-just miss th-them..." Taylor choked, burying her head in Natara's side.

"I know," she replied sadly. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around the girl's slender frame, and gently rubbed her back comfortingly. "Shhh, it's okay, Taylor," Soon she felt Taylor's arms slide around her. She didn't really know what else to do, other than let the poor girl cry herself. Half an hour later , Taylor's painful sobs had reduced to sniffles and occasional shudders. During this time, Mal had come upstairs wondering where they were, but quickly retreated after a silent shake of the head from Natara.

They had shifted to semi-comfortable sitting positions, leaning awkwardly against the bed frame. "Are you doing alright?" Natara asked softly, regretting the question the second it came out. Of course she wasn't alright! Her siblings were just brutally murdered, and she thought it was her fault! In her blubbery state, however, Taylor did not pick that up, and just nodded in reply.

"Yeah, I'm okay." she said weakly, wiping tears off her face.

Natara helped Taylor up off the floor. "Thanks for letting me talk to you for a while, sweetie."

"Yeah. Sorry about... that." she said, referring to the crying episode. She bit her lip and looked away, cheeks flushed and suddenly self-conscious.

"It's okay, Taylor, really. You're a strong girl." Natara turned to go.

"Wait," Taylor said, lightly grabbing Natara by the arm. She paused. "Thanks. For everything. And I hope you find who that guy is." she pulled Natara into a hug.

She hesitated only a split second before hugging her back. "You're welcome. Believe me, so do I. Hang in there, alright?" Taylor smiled at her and she smiled back. Then Natara turned back towards the hallway and walked down the stairs again, returning to the place Mal was still sitting with Mr. and Mrs. Wilson.


	3. Chapter 3

**Whelp, this is my longest chapter so far. I was trying to make it into two, but there's not a real clean-cut place to make a chapter break. So you'll just have to deal with a longer chapter. (; I know I've posted these first three chapters really close together, so I hope nobody minds. It's partially due to the fact that I'm a quick writer, but also because I'll be extremely busy next week on out, for the rest of the summer and proceeding into the school year. I'll write when I can. (: Also, thank you _SO_ much for the reviews; I'll reply to you personally. I appreciate it a ton! Enjoy!**

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Chapter Three - Bleach Blonde

Natara rounded the corner and was again back in the living room. Mr. Wilson still sat on the couch talking to Mal, while Mrs. Wilson was brewing tea in their small kitchen. She looked up as Natara walked past her.

"Would you like a cup of tea, Agent Williams?" she asked, trying to sound chipper.

"Please, call me Natara," she replied, "And yes, tea would be lovely. Thank you."

Natara walked back over to where Mal sat, and took a seat on the couch beside him. "How are things coming along?"

"Very well," Mal said. "I'm just finishing up talking to Mr. and Mrs Wilson."

Natara nodded. "I've finished talking to Taylor."

"Is she alright?" Mr. Wilson asked. "I thought I heard crying."

"She's still very shaken up, for obvious reasons," She nodded a thanks to Mrs. Wilson as she set a steaming cup of tea on the side table next to her. "But she's alright for now." Natara didn't really want to go into depth about their whole ordeal, as she wasn't sure how much of that Taylor had planned on sharing with her in the first place. She took a sip of her tea. It was good; rasberry with a hint of mint. It helped to soothe her mind a bit, too. She listened intently to Mal's conversation with the Wilsons, taking notes in between her sips of tea.

A few minutes later, Mal politely cleared his throat. "We'd like to take a look at the crime scenes, if you don't mind."

"Oh, go ahead," Mrs. Wilson replied shakily. "Aaron's room is the first door to the left, and Brynne's is the third on the right."

Mal and Natara stood, and began walking up the creaky flight of stairs.

"We'll be down here if you need us," Mr. Wilson added.

Once upstairs, Mal led the way into Aaron's room. Police had come in hours ago and photographed the crime scene, so it was just them. They walked over to Aaron's bed. He lay lifeless, with his eyes closed, in his bed. The thin blue covers were pulled up to his chin. He almost looked like he was sleeping. Natara gingerly reached over and pulle away the covers, and winced slightly at the gore. The child's throat was slit, and blood covered his sheets and night clothes. Mal continued to investigate in Aaron's room, while Natara walked silently to Brynne's. She walked past Taylor's room, but she was still staring out the window.

Natara found Brynne in the same position as Aaron; her throat was slit, and her lime green sheets were pulled up to her chin. Taylor was right, though; Brynne did remind Natara a little of herself. She had almost the same shade of hair.

She heard footsteps behind her, and turned to see Taylor leaning against the door frame.

"Taylor, are you sure-"

"I'm alright, really. I... I need to see her again." she stammered out.

Taylor walked slowly to the bedside where Natara stood, and grimaced when she saw the blood. "Did it hurt?" she asked Natara quietly.

The question was vague, but she knew what Taylor meant. "No, not for very long," she reassured her.

Taylor reached out and cautiously touched one of her sister's cold, pale hand. "Brynne... I... I know you already know this, but I need to say it anyways. I'm never going to have the courage to speak at your funeral, so..." she took a deep breath.

Natara knew what Taylor was doing, so she quietly stepped back and turned to leave the room, to give her some privacy.

Taylor turned around. "No, please stay. It's fine." Natara shifted awkwardly and leaned against the dresser near the bed.

"Brynne, I... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I know you didn't take my journal, and I'm sorry I didn't believe you. And I'm sorry that the last thing I said to you was horrible. I love you so much, and if there were a way to bring you and Aaron back... I'd do it in an instant. But I... I've always looked up to you so much. You're so beautiful and smart and funny, and I've always been jealous of you for that. You were... you _are_... my best friend. But I love you so much, and I know I'll see you again someday. Please... Wait for me, and take care of Aaron. Tell him I love him, too. I... I'll miss you. Both of you." She let go of Brynne's hand, and gently covered her back up, so it looked like she was just sleeping. Silent tears ran down her face, and she squeezed her eyes shut, not bothering to wipe them away. Natara slipped her arm ariund Taylor's shoulder, and she felt Taylor lean into her.

"I miss them," Taylor choked.

"I know," Natara replied sadly. "They miss you, too."

Natara picked up her pen and paper and slid it back into her bag. "Do you mind if I look around for any evidence?"

"Go ahead," Taylor sniffed. She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt. "Do you want me to get out of your way?"

"No, you're okay. Just try not to touch anything that would get fingerprints on them. We don't need you looking guilty."

Taylor nodded as she crossed the room and sat down at a chair in a corner. An acoustic guitar was propped against it. She ran her fingers along the strings.

Natara walked slowly around the room, looking for anything out of place. It was very neat and tidy, except for a pencil cup that had been knocked down near the bed. The contents was spilled over the floor; various pens and pencils littered the floor of the oterwise pristinely cleaned room. She bent down, and noticed a piece of short, blond hair. It was so blond, in fact, that it was almost white. It looked like it had been bleached to that color. It definitely wasn't anyone from the family; they all had a shade of brown hair. But that didn't tell her a lot. It could have been a friend's, or even a police officers'. She bagged it anyways, marking it with Sharpie.

"Taylor, do you know when Brynne cleaned her room last?"

"Two days ago. She vacuumed and everything. We all did, actually. We were planning on having the extended family over tomorrow, but... er, not anymore."

Two days ago. If nobody else besides the family had entered the room in the past two days, the suspect list could be considerably cut down. "Has anyone with bleach-blonde hair been in here since she cleaned?"

"No. None of us were allowed to have any friends over until after we had the company."

The piece of hair she had found could very well belong to the killer. She neatly slipped the plastic baggie into the evidence compartment of her bag. She suddenly flashed back to that night, years ago. A night she would never forget. The man holding the infant hostage... who killed the mother... Had bleach-blond hair.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi again! Sorry I didn't get to update yesterday; it was my dad's birthday, so I was with my family much of the day. (: But here's another chapter. It's short, but I'm going to upload twice today. (: After I finish this story, I'm going to write some Maltara. :D I'm pretty excited, I got some great things for both the end of this, and the Maltara one. I'm not sure when I'll finish this one; whenever my brain decides, I guess. Not for a few more chapters, though. (: Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them! Well, enjoy! (:**

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Chapter Four - Evidence

Natara shivered at the memory, and hugged herself subconsciously. It couldn't be him, though; he was dead. She had killed him herself. _And critically injured Shawn Mallory, _she thought to herself.

"Are you okay?" Taylor asked, eyeing her with a look of confusion.

Natara's head snapped up, startled out of her frighteningly realistic flashback. "... What? I, uh... Yes, I'm fine. I just remembered something... undesirable." She shook her head to clear her mind.

"Okay," she replied simply, deciding it wiser not to press. "Did you find anything useful?"

Natara stood. Back to detective mode. "Not much, but I did find a piece of hair, which is why I asked you if anyone had come in here recently. It was bleach-blonde, and obviously not anyone in your immediate family."

"So it could be...?" Taylor didn't finish the question, but again, Natara knew what she was asking.

"Yes, it very well could be. But nothing is confirmed yet, so I really shouldn't say much until there's more evidence."

Natara surveyed the room one last time before picking up her bag, turning, and exiting the room. She heard Taylor walking softly behind her. They walked over to Aaron's room, where Mal was still looking around.

"Hey, Mal, did you find anything?"

"Nothing really of use, no," he replied frowning, "Did you?"

"Actually, yes. I'll fill you in on the details later."

"I believe we're done here, then," Mal announced, bending to pick up his bag.

Natara nodded and proceeded down the stairs followed by Mal and Taylor. "Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, I believe we've found what we can here." She briefly described the small bit of evidence they had found. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson walked them to the door.

"Thank you so much for your work," Mr. Wilson said somberly, "We really appreciate it."

"And if it's not too much to ask, could you please keep us updated on the case?" Mrs. Wilson added hopefully.

"Of course," Natara replied, scribbling down her cell phone number. "Call me here if you have any questions." She smiled and waved to Taylor on her way out, and Taylor smiled and waved back.

* * *

"So, what did you find in there?" Mal asked, sliding into the driver's seat. He pulled the seatbelt over himself and started the ignition.

"I found a piece of bleach-blonde hair in Brynne's room. It's very clearly not from the immediate family. Taylor said they had all just cleaned and vacuumed two days ago; they were planning on company... well, today. None of them were allowed friends over until after their guests, so the only people who were in Brynne's room were family... and the murderer."

Mal drove in silence for several seconds, taking all of this in. "So you think the hair belongs to the murderer?"

"As of currently, the evidence we have is certainly pointing to it. Either way, we should get it back to the lab to have some DNA tests done."

Mal nodded in agreement, and a few more minutes of thoughtful silence later, they arrived back at the police bullpen.

* * *

Half an hour later, Mal and Natara sat at their desks idly sipping coffee and reviewing notes. Mal was just about to pour another cup of coffee, when Natara's cell phone rang, scaring them both pretty well. Hot coffee splashed out of the mug onto Mal's hand. He yelped in pain.

"Son of a-!" he exclaimed. Natara scrambled to pull her phone out of her pocket, and quickly answered.

"Natara Williams. May I help you?"

"Hey, Natara! It's Amy. We've got the lab results, and..." she paused uneasily.

"And what? Amy?"

"And I think you and Mal need to get your butts down here. Hurry." Without another word, Amy hung up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Well, as promised, here is my second upload today to make up for the short one earlier. I just wrote this today, and I'm super excited about it. I think this is my favorite one so far. Hopefully you'll see why when you read it. Thanks for the reviews I've received so far; they honestly make my day! Please review it if you like it (or even if you don't). I like concrit, too. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it!**

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"Oh. My. God." Natara's mind was moving a thousand miles a second. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Natara and Mal sat in the lab on uncomfortable plastic chairs, opposite from Amy, their lab technician. They had just received the lab results from the small piece of evidence they had found from their investigation.

"Are you... Amy, are you positive?"

"Logically, it makes sense, and nearly evidence-wise, everything matches up perfectly. The DNA is similar as well, indicating family ties."

Natara stared at Amy in shock. "I... _how_? I thought we confirmed years ago that this guy didn't have any remaining family?"

"Things slip by us sometimes, Natara," Amy said gently, "The creep did a great job of hiding the fact."

Mal sat silently, his brain desperately trying to grasp the information Amy had just thrown at them.

"I... excuse me for a moment," Natara stammered, quickly getting up and nearly knocking her chair over. "I need to... just a moment, I'll be back. Just... give me a moment." Natara turned on her heel and walked briskly out of the room. Mal began to stand to go after her, but Amy gently tugged him back down.

"Mal," she warned, "Just give her a few minutes. This is... big. She needs a little time." Mal nodded and sat back down, occupying himself by trying to pull a loose thread off of his suit.

[line break]

Natara tore around corner after corner, eventually reaching the back exit. She pushed the door open with her shoulder, and stepped out into the comfortable August air. The sun was beginning to set, streaking the sky with beautiful shades of orange and pink. Birds were trilling in the distance, gracing the air with melodies only birds can sing. Natara would have liked to enjoy it, but her thoughts were currently an F5 tornado.

She leaned against the wall and slid down it onto the steps, trying to sort out her thoughts. _How did we miss this information the first time around?_ she wondered desperately to herself. _I thought we were done with that guy; even after he's dead, he's still able to haunt me._

She tilted her head back and looked at the sky. She tried to appreciate the pretty colors, but couldn't bring herself to enjoy much of anything at the moment. A cool breeze blew through, blowing strands of her dark hair into her face. She shivered, hugging her arms to herself. She didn't know what, but something about the chill in the air brought her back to that night...

[line break]

Natara Williams and her partner and boyfriend, Shawn Mallory, were on a chase after the man who had killed 5 women that week. It was their day off, but they had been called in for this case. As much as they would have liked to enjoy a nice, quiet evening, they were definitely not about to let that guy have any more victims.

"It's that complex, there," Shawn instructed, pointing to a run-down, four-story complex of apartments. "Drive past it and park near the storage sheds; we can walk a few hundered feet." Natara nodded and parked the car, locking it as her and Shawn stepped out.

"Shawn, call for back up. We might need it; and even if we don't, it can't hurt." Shawn nodded and radioed for back up.

As they approached the complex, a muffled gunshot rang through the static-like noise of Miami. Shawn and Natara exchanged a frantic glance, drew their guns, and broke into a run, crossing the last hundered feet between them and the door in a matter of seconds. They tore through the hall and up a musty flight of stairs, to the apartment number their Captain had given them. An infant was crying inside. Shawn shot the lock of apartment 139B and kicked the door open, revealing a woman, seemingly in her late-20's or early 30's, lying dead on the floor, a bullet straight through her heart.

They jumped over the body and turned the corner, to find the suspect holding a crying infant hostage. The infant was lying on its back in a small crib shoved into the corner, and the suspect was pinning himself against the crib.

"This is the police, put your hands up!" Natara yelled, pointing her gun at the man. "Hands up, now!"

The man began to slowly raise his hands, and Natara lowered her gun. She glanced quickly at the infant, and back to the man in time for her to see him whip out a gun, aim at her chest, and pull the trigger. She screamed and dove away, but the bullet met her shoulder with a sharp, excruiciating wave of pain, and sent her flying to the floor. She vaguely heard Shawn scream her name before she blacked out.

She awoke later- she wasn't sure how much later- to find Shawn backing the man into a corner, gun trained to his chest. The suspect's gun was several feet away on the floor, kicked underneath a nearby chair. Her shoulder throbbed, but she tried to ignore it as she painfully pushed herself to her knees, grabbing her gun which had luckily landed only a few feet from her.

Natara saw the man slowly try to make his way to his gun, centimeter by centimeter. Shawn hadn't noticed yet, and the man hadn't seen her get up, so she decided she had to take the shot. It was now or never. She had a clear shot now; Shawn and the infant were out of her way.

The 30 seconds seemed to be in slow motion. She aimed for the man's stomach, and trained her eye on the target. She vaguely heard their back up running up the steps and turning into the apartment. Just as she pulled the trigger, Shawn took a final step forward- right into Natara's line of fire. She tried desperately to scream his name, but the frantic warning was only half out before the bullet punctured through Shawn's left hip, and milliseconds after, met its target in the suspect's stomach. The suspect fell over, dead, and Shawn yelled in surprise and pain, falling to the floor with a horrific thump.

"SHAWWWNN!" Natara screamed in horror, knocking over whatever was in her path as she ran to his side. "Oh, God, no, no, no, no!" she yelled, "What the hell have I done?" The throbbing in her shoulder had suddenly disappeared as hot, guilty tears streamed down her face. "Shawn, I'm so sorry, I'm such an idiot, I'm so, so, sorry. Just please be okay, please don't leave me, I'm so sorry!" She heard an ambulance siren blaring outside the window, and within minutes, several paramedics ran up, carrying a stretcher. They gently lifted Shawn onto the stretcher and rushed him out of the room.

She felt a gentle hand on her good shoulder as she sank to the floor sobbing out unintelligible phrases.

"Miss, you have a bad shoulder injury, you need to get to the hospital," urged another paramedic, trying to coax her up. Natara vigorously shook her head, refusing to move.

"Natara," another voice said, "Please. You need to go to the hospital. You won't help Shawn by bawling yourself incapacitated. Get to the hospital, now."

She glanced up momentarily, meeting the pale-green eyes of Hailee, another girl around Natara's age that she sometimes worked with. The desperate pleading in her eyes forced her up. Hailee slipped her arm around Natara, helping her stagger to her feet.

"C'mon, I'll drive you," Hailee said softly, leading her out the door, down the stairs, and to her car waiting in the parking lot. Natara found she was completely unable to form intelligible words, so she just nodded consent.

Natara half-fell into the car, as Hailee buckled her seatbelt across her. She put her head in her hands, allowing sobs to slip out. Hailee drove with one hand on the wheel, and the other comfortingly rubbing up and down Natara's back.

They arrived at the hospital, and Hailee helped Natara into the ER, and into a ominous-looking room. Some of the shock had worn off, and Natara's shoulder was beginning to throb again. Natara distantly heard someone tell her they would have to remove the bullet that was still lodged into her shoulder. They injected her with something that made her extremely tired, and the last thing she remembered was Hailee squeezing her hand, telling her she'd be waiting outside the room.

The next thing she remembered after waking up, was asking about Shawn. The last thing she remembered before breaking down in sobs again and having to be injected with some form of a tranquilizer, was a doctor telling her that Shawn would probably never be able to walk again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys! I'm going to upload twice in a row today. I finished writing the entire thing, but you're going to have to wait for the last chapter until tomorrow. C: The last chapter has a set-up for the Maltara fanfic / one shot (haven't decided which yet) that I will write soon. This one has a little Maltara in it; it's less about the case, and more about Mal & Natara. But enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Six - Evening Out**  
**

The sound of a slamming door from somewhere near Natara snapped her out of her vivid flashback. How long had she been out there? The flashback had seemed so long. She pulled her phone out, realizing it had only been five minutes. She put her head in her hands and rubbed her eyes, trying to get them to focus on the present world. She heard the door behind her open, and she turned, startled.

"Hey, Nat," Mal said gently, "Are you okay?"

She rubbed her eyes again and shook her head, trying to push the horrible images away. "I..." she sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. She looked over at Mal, who had sat down beside her. Mal looked over, too, and their gaze locked.

"No, you're not," he replied, even gentler.

Fresh tears sprung to Natara's eyes, and they threatened to spill over. She turned her head away and blinked hard, forcing them back. She turned to face Mal again. "Hey, who's the profiler here, you or me?" she said, joking half-heartedly.

He smiled. "You know," he said quietly, his smile fading, "We don't have to do this one. We can see if they can find replacements."

Natara stared at him for a few moments, then looked down. She thought about it for a second; she wouldn't have to deal with this guy. But her mind drifted back to Taylor; the strong little girl with a broken spirit that was counting on her.

"No," she said firmly, "We need to do this. I need to do this. For Taylor. She's counting on us."

Mal nodded. "I knew I couldn't get rid of you that easily," he said with a smile.

Natara laughed, and couldn't help but smile back.

He got to his feet, helping Natara up. "Ready to go back inside?"

She nodded, and they walked back to the lab. Amy was bent over reading a book, drumming her fingers quietly on the counter next to her. She looked up when she heard Mal and Natara walk back in.

"Hey!" she said in her normal chipper tone, addressing them both. She turned to Natara. "Are you alright now?"

Natara nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks."

Amy stuck a bookmark in the page she was on, and closed the book, shoving it aside. "We have all the evidence we are aware of as of now, so there's not a whole lot we can do tonight. We know who this guy is, but he's still out there somewhere. You two should go home and get some rest; we'll have a lot of work to do tomorrow.

"Okay," Natara said, standing, "Thanks. We'll stop by in the morning, then. You try and get some rest, too," she added, noticing the bags beginning to form under Amy's eyes.

Amy nodded with a half-smile. "I'll do my best."

[line break]

Mal and Natara walked out to their cars in silence, their own thoughts from the day running through their minds. Mal broke the silence.

"You wanna go grab some coffee or something?" he asked, suddenly turning to her.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Natara replied clumsily, "And some food would be great, too, I'm starving." she added, just now remembering that the only thing she had eaten today was a granola bar. Had that really been just today? It felt like weeks had gone by.

"Sounds great," he said, "I know this really good place on the other side of town."

They drove in comfortable silence for about 20 minutes before slowing in front of a small restaurant in the outskirts of town. They walked in, and one of the managers greeted Mal. He was a couple inches taller than Mal, and looked to be in his late-40's.

"Hey! Mal!" he said cheerfully, "How've ya' been? I haven't seen you in a while!"

"Hey, Greg! It's good to see you; how's your wife?"

"Aye, she's just great," he said, with merry smile. "Who's your girlfriend over there?" he asked, motioning towards Natara.

"I uhh..." Mal stammered blindly, "She's not my... uh, Greg, this is Special Agent Natara Williams. She's an FBI agent; we work together. Natara, this is Greg."

"Well, pleased to meet ya'!" Greg replied with a friendly handshake.

"Nice to meet you," she replied politely.

"So you two want to eat or what?"

Greg led them to a table in the corner. A large window was propped open to reveal a sparkling lake streaked with the fading colors of the mid-summer sky. A couple of small houses sat lakeside, casting eerie shadows over the water. A few ducks floated around carelessly, quacking to each other in a language only the ducks themselves must understand.

"Nice view," Natara said when Greg had left, "Do you come here a lot?"

Mal set down his menu. "Sometimes," he replied. "I actually met him through work. He had a son, Vince, who was my partner back before the Maskmaker case. We were pretty close."

"In the past tense?" she questioned, setting her menu down as well.

"Yeah," he replied sadly, "Past tense. Tyler was killed in a car accident about a year after we became partnerts. Some drunk missed an overpass, and killed him instantly."

"Oh, wow, I'm sorry, Mal,"

He half-smiled and nodded, acknowleding her condolence. "Well, in the present tense, I am starving. What do you want?"

Natara laughed. "I don't know, a salad?"

"Oh, come on; I thought you said you were hungry!"

She laughed again. "Fine, then, what would you suggest?"

"A burger. Their burgers are amazing."

Greg walked over just then, as if on cue. "You two figure out what ya' want yet?"

"Two burger specials with coffee, please," Mal replied, handing Greg their menus.

Soon after Greg had walked away, Natara's phone rang. She glanced down. "Oh, crap," she said suddenly, "It's Oscar. I'm sorry, but he's going to keep calling until I pick up."

"Go ahead," Mal said with a half-smile.

"Thanks," she replied, slipping out of the restaurant and into the night air.

"Natara?" Oscar asked.

"Hey," she replied nonchalantly, leaning against the building.

"Oh, hey, babe. I have to work late right now, but do you wanna grab a late dinner after?"

"Oh! I, uhh, I already ate," she half-lied, "I'm sorry, I would've waited."

"No problem, I'll pick you up a coffee and meet you at your place once I get off. I'm done at 11:30."

She pulled the phone away from her ear for a second to see the time. It was 10:15. "Sounds good, I'll see you later,"

"Okay, bye, I love you,"

"I love you, too," she said after a moment's hesitation. She hung up and slid her phone back in her pocket, twisting her engagement ring absentmindedly. She walked back in and sat down across from Mal once again.

"Sorry," she said apologetically, "He really would have kept calling."

Mal laughed. "I believe you; you don't have to explain."

Natara was fumbling with what to say next, when Greg walked over, setting a steaming burger in front of them both. A younger waitress followed with their coffees.

"Thank you!" they chimed, smiling at Greg and the waitress.

"Ain't no problem," Greg replied, "You two enjoy!"

They ate in silence for a few minutes. "Wow, this is really good," Natara commented, swallowing another bite.

"Hey, I told you!" Mal replied.

Half an hour later, they had both finished their meals, and Mal started to get up to pay the tab.

"Oh, Mal! Here," she said, pulling out her wallet,"

"Nahh, it's on me," he said.

"Oh, uh, are you sure?" she asked, surprised. Mal nodded, smiling.

"Don't worry about it."

"Well, okay. Thank you."

Now alone, she let her mind wander around the events of the day. Her phone rang then, startling her out of her thoughts. She thought it was Oscar calling again, but it wasn't. The caller ID read "Charles Wilson". Recognizing it as Taylor's dad, she quickly picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Agent Williams?" Mr. Wilson's voice on the other end was shaky.

"Yes, this is Natara. Mr. Wilson? Is everything all right?"

"We'd like you and Detective Fallon  
to come here, if you're able. I'll explain when you get here." He hurriedly hung up.

Mal sat down again. "Everything alright?" he asked.

"Mr. Wilson called. He said he wants us to go over there as soon as we can. We'd better go."


	7. Chapter 7

**Well, here's the second update for today. (: & YES, I know this one is CRAZY long. But I honestly could not stop writing. xD I hope you enjoy it, & please leave a review! Thank you so much for the reviews so far; I love reading them. I reply to everyone privately. (:**

* * *

Chapter Seven - Breakdown**  
**

Mal drove, and Natara left a message for Oscar, letting him know what came up. "Hey, I'm really sorry, but something just came up at work; it's really important. Don't bother with the coffee, just drive to my place and let yourself in. I'll see you when I get home." She hesitated a moment before adding, "I love you, bye."

Mal glanced over but didn't comment, pulling into the Wilson's drive way. They got out of the car to see all three Wilsons sitting on their front porch.

"Thank God you're here," Mrs, Wilson said, relief flooding her voice as she led them inside. They sat on the opposite couch. "You need to see this,"

Taylor handed Natara a piece of paper. The paper was printed from a computer, and the ink was smeared a bit.

_Looks like I missed one_, the paper read. _Don't worry, I'll be back_.

Natara shivered slightly and looked at Taylor. "This doesn't look good," she muttered, more to herself than Taylor. "Where did you find this?"

"I... We went to the store earlier, and we were only gone a couple hours... And when we got back, this was on my bed.

"How did he even get in?"

"We have no idea," Mr. Wilson said, speaking up. "Did you happen to find any information from earlier?"

Natara relayed the evidence found, leaving out the part of her past she didn't exactly care to share at this point. "The brother of the suspect we're dealing with now... Has... Uh, had a history with me, crime-wise. So the guy has a serious grudge against me. But what I don't see, is why he targeted you."

"Is there a way he would have known you'd be assigned to this case?" inquired Mr. Wilson.

"I don't believe so, but it's something I should check into. It's definitely plausible. Do you mind if I keep this note for further investigation?"

"Of course, take it," Mrs. Wilson said, "If it will help."

Just then, a muffled clambering came from somewhere underneath them, like something had fallen. Mrs. Wilson's gaze snapped quickly to a door which Natara presumed led to downstairs.

"What was that?" Taylor asked tensely, twisting strands of her hair nervously around her finger.

"Let's find out," Mal said quietly.

It was probably nothing, but Mal and Natara drew their guns anyways as Mal slowly twisted the door handle. "If you hear any yelling," he said, turning to Mr. Wilson, "Please flip the light on down there,"

Mr. Wilson nodded and stood by the light switch panel that controlled both the kitchen and down stairs hall lights.

Mal and Natara crept silently down the stairs, listening for more noise. Another sound of something falling pierced the silence. As they crept around the corner, Mal motioned for Mr. Wilson to flip the first light on. He obeyed, and half the room was flooded with light. Natara observed with horror that the man had blonde hair. Bleach blonde.

"Ah, hell," she heard Mal mutter, almost inaudibly.

"Freeze!" Mal yelled, pointing his gun at the stunned man, "S.F.P.D., arms up!"

"Ah, hell no!" the man replied, pulling a gun of his own out, training it on Natara. "Move any farther, and your pretty little girlfriend over there is dead!" Natara scowled, pointing her gun at the guy, ready to pull the trigger if needed. Bad memories of a night much like tonight flooded her, and she pushed them back violently. _Not now!_ she chastised herself silently, _Focus!_

"Gun down!" Mal warned again, "Hands up, or I'll be forced to blow your brains against that wall back there!"

While the guy was busy arguing with mall, Natara crept back into the shadows of the room that were not lit, and turned into the stairs where Taylor and Mr. and Mrs. Wilson still stood, terror written all over their faces.

"You three should get out of here," she hissed quietly, slinking along the wall. "This is dangerous." All three shook their heads.

"We're not leaving you guys down there yet," Mr. Wilson said, "Can we help at all?"

"Call the police and tell them Mal Fallon and Natara Williams need back up; quick!" Mr. Wilson rushed upstairs for the phone, and Taylor stayed clung to her mother.

"Taylor, you really need to get out of here. You could get hurt."

Taylor shook her head, refusing. Natara turned around, exasperated, and slinked around the corner, gun once again drawn. Somehow, Mal had gotten the man to lower his gun. He suddenly and swiftly kneed the man in the gut, causing him to double over and drop his gun. Mal kicked it out of the way. He pushed his gun closer, warning in his voice.

"Last chance, buddy. Hands up!" The man slowly put his hands up, but his ominous countenance did not change.

"So," he sneered at Natara, "Killing my brother wasn't enough for you? Now you want me, too?" Natara tensed, adjusting her grip on the gun. "Why don't you come over here and shoot me yourself?" he taunted. "You're too scared, aren't you? Coward."

Anger began to rise in Natara, but she fought to push it down. She stepped closer, pointing her gun.

"How the hell did you know where I was?" she demanded, shaking slightly.

"You're not the only one good with that profiling crap," he sneered. "Ever since my brother's death, I've sought you out. To avenge him, and kill you. I knew you worked around here, so I called your dumbass Captian," he laughed ominously. "Said I wanted to report some suspicious behavior... and she gave me all the contact information I'd need. I figured if I committed something big close to the area, you'd come running up here to solve it."

Mal jabbed him with the barrel of his gun. "Watch your tongue!" he yelled, fighting to control his rising anger.

"Well, go ahead. Shoot me, Natara. Kill me. I don't care. You took away my little brother; my only reason to even give a damn about anything. So go ahead. Just don't shoot your stupid boyfriend over there. Wouldn't want him nearly incapacitated like the last one, now would we? What was his name again?" he paused, mock-thinking. "Oh, right. Shawn. Shawn Mallory. Bet you haven't forgiven yourself for that one, have you?"

Natara felt angry tears threaten to fall, but she blinked and fought even harder to control her emotions. She took another step closer.

Mal jabbed him again, this time harder. "You're dangerously close to your brains being blown to bits," he growled at him, tightening his grip on the gun.

"Aww," he droned in mock sympathy, "You feel guilty? Well, you deserve it, you little useless bastard. He'll never be able to walk again, because you shot him. You shot him AND my brother."

Natara fought hard for control of her emotions, as fresh waves of guilt and pain and anger threatened to overtake her. She bit her lip to keep from crying, training her eyes hard on the guy. Mal jabbed him harder with his gun, and he let out a grunt of pain.

"In fact, why don't you shoot him, too?" he scoffed, pointing to Mal. "Have that on your conscience for a while, too. Add to the list of partners you've nearly killed!"

Just then, their back up burst in through the patio door behind noticed that the lock had been broken.

The man's eyes hardened, and he stared hard at Natara. "You know what? Go to hell, you son of a-" Mal kicked him hard in the stomach, causing him to bend over, choking.

"Shut the hell up!" Mal yelled.

One of the back-up officers quickly handcuffed him, Mirandized him, and shoved him out the door, still hurling insults at Natara.

Natara flung her gun down, and turned on her heel, scrambling up the stairs, tears burning her eyes.

"Nat!" he heard Mal protest, starting after her.

She whipped around. "Mal, just leave me alone right now. Leave me the hell alone." She turned again and ran up the stairs. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and Taylor had already moved, allowing her easy passage. By the look on their faces, she guessed they had heard the insults, too. She quickly crossed the living room and burst out the front door.

She sank down on the bench on the porch, head in her hands, as she felt hot tears stream down her face. She couldn't hold them back any longer. She frantically tried to wipe them away, but they kept falling. Guilt, anger, and pain surged through her, all at once, like lightning striking a building. It threatened to over-power her. Everything that the man had said out loud, were all of the doubts and thoughts that constantly ran through the back of her mind. _It's your fault! You deserve this! You're useless, you can't even save your own partner!_The words stabbed her like knives, each one stinging.

Taylor quietly slipped out, her thin frame easily sliding through the half-open door. She walked over and gingerly sat down by Natara, resting her hand on Natara's arm.

Natara wiped tears out of her eyes, struggling to speak. "I suppose you heard all of that," she choked out. Her voice sounded horrible, like a scared child.

Taylor nodded sullenly. She softly used her fingertips to rub Natara's back, offering silent comfort. They sat like that for a few moments, before Taylor stated quietly, "It's not your fault, you know." Natara still didn't trust her voice, but she reached over and squeezed Taylor's leg, glancing up at the night sky.

"And don't listen to any of that crap that psycho said about you. I may have just met you, but I do know you're not useless; all you've ever done for me is help my family and I, and you barely even know us. Like you said to me earlier... You need to stop blaming yourself for something you had no control over." Taylor suddenly seemed to gain wisdom beyond her years. "You remind me so much of Brynne," she said, her voice faltering suddenly. "You're beautiful and smart and you'd do anything to help someone, even if they were strangers. Just like Brynne." She chokes Brynne's name out, her voice thick with emotion.

They were both crying now, embracing in a long, silent hug. When they finally pulled away, they both wiped their eyes with the back of their hands.

"You're an amazing girl, you know that?" she told Taylor, still fighting to control her voice. Taylor leaned into Natara and stared at the night sky. It felt like they'd known each other forever, yet they had only just met today.

Mal quietly slipped out soon after, and Taylor quickly excused herself to get some water.

The sight of Natara crying alarmed him momentarily; in all the years they had been partners, he had never seen her cry. Not once. _I guess even the strongest people break down sometimes_, he thought to himself.

Mal put his arms gently around Natara, enveloping her in a hug. He felt her lean into him and slip her arms around him, allowing a few stray sobs to escape. She pulled back, desperately wiping tears off her face.

"Are you okay?" Mal asked softly. _Great question, Mal, _he thought sarcastically to himself, _Really, that was genius. She is very clearly not okay. _

"No," she said weakly, "Not really."

He slid his arm around her and she leaned into him, feeling somehow safer.

"You know," he said after a moment, "That guy was a complete dipstick."

Natara laughed in spite of herself.

"None of what happened that night was your fault," he said, growing serious again. "And you don't deserve whatever you're feeling. Shawn has forgiven you; everyone else has. Now you need to forgive yourself."

"Thanks, Mal," she said quietly, looking up and meeting his gaze.

He looked down into her pretty, brown eyes, momentarily getting lost in them. They were beautiful, even in their swollen, red, just-got-done-crying state. Everything about her was beautiful.

Mal broke the gaze, getting up and helping her to her feet. He could not be thinking those things. Not now.

Mal lead them back inside the house, holding the door for Natara.

Taylor was curled up on the couch, fast asleep. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were at the kitchen table, looking understandably nervous and confused. Natara could tell they had a million questions burning their minds, but the sight of her seemed to change their minds.

She glanced at a mirror that hung by the door, suddenly self-conscience. Her hair was a mess, and strands of it were matted to her face and neck, held in place by tears or sweat. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and her eye make-up was smudged under her eyes. _Lovely,_ she thought sarcastically, pulling strands of hair off her face. _That's fantastic_.

"Why don't you two go home and get some rest? We have questions, but they can wait until tomorrow. Thank you," Mrs. Wilson added, "For everything."

Mal and Natara thanked them, and said they'd be in touch in the morning.

Both exhausted, they stumbled out to their cars.

"You good now?" Mal asked Natara, opening his car door.

"Yeah," she said smiling, opening her car door as well and tossing her bag to the passenger seat. "Thanks. Goodnight, Mal."

He nodded with a smile, and got into his car, starting the ignition. "Goodnight, Nat."

Natara got in her car and watched him drive off. She drove home in silence, using all her energy to stay awake.

Soon later, she arrived back at her house, desperately wanting to collapse in her bed. She saw Oscar's car parked in her driveway, and the kitchen light was on.

"Shoot," she groaned under her breath, "I completely forgot." She rubbed as much of the smeared make-up off as she could, trying to erase the image that she had been crying.

She stumbled in tiredly, and Oscar greeted her at the door. "Hey, beautiful," he said, quickly pecking her on the lips.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile slightly at his greeting.

"Are you okay?" he asked, surveying Natara's appearance.

"Yeah," she lied, "Just a very, very long day." She sighed, tossing her bag carelessly to the couch. "I'm really sorry, but I am completely exhausted. I really need to sleep. And it's getting late; you should get some rest, too. You can crash on the couch."

"Okay," Oscar said squeezing her hand with a smile. She had a hunch that Oscar didn't believe her, but thankfully, he didn't press. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she smiled back, stumbling into her room. She collapsed into bed, still fully-clothed, and fell asleep within minutes.


	8. Chapter 8

**Whelp, guys, this is the last chapter of 'Chasing The Dark'. Thank you so much to those of you who have bothered reading & reviewing it. It really means a lot. I'm going to be doing a Maltara one-shot or fanfic (or both) soon, so keep a watch out for that. C: But yeah, I hope you enjoy this last chapter; reviews or ideas for more fanfics would be awesome. Thank you so much for the support. C:**

* * *

Chapter Eight (Last Chapter) - Case Closed**  
**

Natara awoke the next morning to her cell phone ringing. She was momentarily confused as to why she was still in her work clothes; then all the events of yesterday came flooding back, instantly making her tired grabbed the phone from where it must have fallen out of her pocket beside her. The screen flashed _Incoming call from Mal Fallon_.

"Hello?" she said groggily, shifting to a sitting position.

"Hey, it's Mal," He sounded tired, too. "I just called the Wilson's and said we'd be over in an hour. That's not too soon, is it?"

Natara quickly glanced at the mirror, suppressing a sigh. "No, it's fine. I'll see you in an hour."

They hung up, and Natara tiredly walked into the bathroom, washing make-up off her face from the night before. She quickly showered, trying to untangle the knots in her hair. She re-applied her make-up, and grabbed her phone, checking the time. She had 25 minutes to get over to the Wilson's, which was about a 20 minute's drive.

She walked around the corner, and was momentarily startled to see Oscar, sleeping like a baby, on the couch, before she remembered she'd told him he could sleep there. She felt bad since she kept having to cancel on him, but she didn't want to wake him up, so she left him a note.

_Oscar,_  
_I had to go in early this morning for work. I'm really sorry, but I'll make it up to you; I promise._  
_Love, Nat _

She set it on the table by the couch, hoping he'd see it there. She genuinely did feel bad for canceling on him twice in the past 24 hours, but she didn't really have a choice.

[line break]

Natara pulled into the Wilson's drive way with 3 minutes to spare. Mal's car was already there, and she could see movement inside. Taylor was outside watering some plants.

"Hey!" Taylor said, standing and shifting the hose to another plant. "My parents are in the kitchen."

"Hi," she said smiling, "Is Mal in there, too?"

"Assuming Mal is the tall one that says 'hell' a lot and is always with you, then yes, he's in there, too."

"Yeah, that's him," Natara said with a laugh. She walked in and greeted Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, who were sitting at the kitchen table opposite of Mal.

"Goodmorning!" Mrs. Wilson said, sounding chipper. "Would you like coffee or anything?"

Natara shook her head. "No, I'm good, but thanks." She pulled out the chair next to Mal.

"Mr. Wilson was just asking how you knew the guy..." Mal said, trailiing off. He didn't know how much Natara had wanted to share.

Natara nodded, and proceeded to explain what had happened years ago, not bothering to leave nothing out. She didn't feel like trying to avoid it anymore. Taylor and Mal were right; she needed to forgive herself. The more she tried hiding it, the more it ended up hurting in the end.

They were all silent for a few seconds after Natara finished, so she sat awkwardly, examining the wooden table. When they did talk, they spoke quickly, one after another.

"Wow," was all Mrs. Wilson could say.

"I see why he... disliked you." Mr. Wilson commented.

"I'm sorry," Taylor said.

Mal sat quietly staring out the window, as he already knew the story. Natara looked down and half smiled, suddenly shy.

"Any other questions you guys have?" Mal asked, quickly chaning the subject. Natara shot him a grateful smile, and looked back up at the Wilsons.

"Just one," Mrs. Wilson said. "How did the guy get in initially, you know for the... murder... part? Then the second time... was a lock problem, right?"

"Well," Mal started, pulling out a photo of the downstairs patio door. "Both times, we believe, the same entrance was used. The lock on your patio door downstairs was picked and broken."

"Unless your front door was wide open that night, that's really the only way he could have gotten in. No windows were broken, and they were all locked from the inside, anyways. The only thing disturbed was the patio door. You might want to invest in something a little more durable for the downstairs especially. The one you had was very easy to break open; and since it's facing the back, you would've had a hard time seeing or hearing anyone down there. That's probably what that guy was counting on."

"We should probably look into something a bit more... dependable." Mrs. Wilson said, turning to Mr. Wilson. He nodded in agreement.

"Well, unless you have further questions..." Mal said, standing up. Natara followed suit.

Mrs. Wilson shook her head no.

"Thank you so much for all your help with this," Mr. Wilson said, getting up as well. Mrs. Wilson rose too, thanking them profusely.

"Yes, thank you very much. I'm glad that man was brought to justice."

"You're welcome," Mal said humbly, "Just doing our job."

They said goodbye and walked out of the house. Taylor was still outside. This time, she was sticking two mini angel statues into the ground, right in the middle of newly-planted flowers. There was a boy and a girl angel; one had Brynne's name on it, and the other had Aaron's.

"Leaving?" Taylor asked when she saw them walk out.

"Yeah," Natara replied, "We got the guy; looks like the case is closed."

Taylor set the tools she was using down, and brushed her hands on her dirt-streaked jeans before walking over. Mal motioned that he'd be waiting in his car.

"Thank you for everything you and Mal have done for us, really," Taylor said, tilting her head up to look Natara in the eyes. "You have no idea how much it means to all of us. My parents might have seemed pulled-together in there the past couple of days, but they're honestly floored by this. And not in a good way."

Natara smiled. "You're welcome, Taylor. Believe me; I was just as happy as you to see that guy brought to justice. And honestly, their reaction is completely normal. I wouldn't be too worried."

"And I'm, uh, sorry about Shawn, though it really wasn't your fault."

"Thanks. I'm starting to realize that."

They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, before Taylor hesitantly stepped forward and gave Natara a quick hug. Natara hugged her back.

"Well, thanks again. I'll see you around." she turned with a smile, and Natara headed back to her car. Mal was still in his, waiting for her for some reason. He leaned out the window as she approached.

"So, it looks like case is closed," he said with a broad smile. "I'm glad we got that guy."

"Looks like it," Natara said, smiling back. "I"m glad we got him, too."

"Wanna grab something to eat?"

Natara hesitated. She wanted to, but she had blown off Oscar for work twice in the past 24 hours. "I'd love to, but I uhh, kind of canceled on Oscar twice because of dinner last night and work... and I, um, promised I'd make it up to him." She stumbled through the sentences that should have been simple. She could feel her cheeks starting to burn. She looked down and fidgeted with her keys.

"Oh, right," Mal said awkwardly, clearing his throat. "No problem. I'll, uh, see you later, then," Mal turned back to the wheel, backed out of the drive way, and drove off.

Natara got in her car and ran a hand through her long, dark hair. _Why was that so awkward?_ she wondered to herself. _Focus on Oscar right now. He deserves it._ She looked down at the engagement ring on her finger, briefly questioning the promise the ring symbolized. _Stop it, Natara!_ she thought, _Oscar loves you, and you love him. You're going to marry him. _

She sighed, pushing Mal to the back of her mind. She turned on the radio and spent the rest of the drive home trying to concentrate on anything but Mal or the now-closed case, or the night years ago that had caused her so much guilt. She concentrated on the lyrics, and the road in front of her.

[line break]

Once she got home, she pulled her cell phone out from her pocket and dialed Oscar's number. After a couple rings, Oscar picked up.

"Hey, Natara," he said passively.

"Hey! Are you busy right now?" she asked.

"No, I'm not. Are you?" he asked, a bit cooly.

Natara quickly got the feeling Oscar was mad at her for backing out of their plans yesterday. She did feel bad.

"I was actually just calling to ask if you wanted to meet me at the café and grab something to eat." Her reply came out a little colder than she had intended.

Her offer was met by silence on Oscar's line.

"Oscar..." She then remembered the several times the week prior that she had to back out of. Now she really felt bad. She stumbled over what to say next, choosing her words carefully.

"I can tell you're mad at me, and I really am sorry I've had to back out so much. I have realized I am a horrible fiancé, but I promised I'd make it up to you, didn't I?"

"It's okay. I'll see you in 20." he replied, a hint of a smile in his voice. "I love you."

They hung up, and 20 minutes later, Natara met Oscar at the café.

They had a wonderful evening, but the doubt in the very back of her mind never left. She still wondered.


End file.
